Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue. (Eugene O'Neil)

July 2013

July 25, 2013

By Alex DanielsThis article was published Thursday, July 25, at 5:25 a.m. in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette

WASHINGTON - More than 300 evangelical leaders, including
two pastors from Arkansas, pressed lawmakers Wednesday on Capitol Hill
to pass immigration legislation based on what they said were the tenets
of Christianity.

Two members of the clergy from Little Rock, Wendell Griffen of New
Millennium Church and Mark DeYmaz of Mosaic Church, joined the group
Evangelical Immigration Table. Members said the group does not support
specific legislation, but will push for any immigration legislation to,
among other things, respect the “God-given dignity of every person,”
protect the unity of the immediate family, respect the rule of law and
provide a path to citizenship for those who came into the country
illegally.

Griffen and several other pastors who spoke at a news conference
Wednesday morning said aliens were vulnerable to violence and economic
hardship because they lived “shadows” and were easily preyed upon. He
said he would tell lawmakers that the Bible repeatedly commands God’s
followers to care for immigrants.

“They should treat this as if they are legislating for the people
they read about in the Scripture,” said Griffen, who also serves as a
Pulaski county circuit judge. “I want to remind them that Jesus, Abraham
and Joseph were immigrants.”

Leaders of 23 evangelical denominations and organizations, including
the Southern Baptist Convention, Assemblies of God U.S.A. and Focus on
the Family belong to the group.

After the news conference, DeYmaz began a morning worship service at
the Church of the Reformation, two blocks from the Capitol, with a
prayer.

“We ask divine favor as we meet with congressional leaders, that
their hearts and ears will bend and their minds will incline toward
favorable ends so that millions of your children currently living in the
shadows can walk freely and joyfully in this great nation,” he prayed.

Later in the day, DeYmaz met with Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who
was the 2012 Republican vice-presidential nominee and staff members for
several other congressmen, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
Griffen also met with Cantor’s staff and attended a meeting with Rep.
Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary
Committee.

Members of the evangelical group weren’t the only ones calling on Scripture.

Arkansas’ Sen. John Boozman and Rep. Steve Womack, both Republicans,
said they wanted the immigration system to treat people with compassion.
But they stressed that they would only support changes to the
immigration system if the U.S.-Mexico border was secured. When people
enter the country illegally, they said, it is unfair to the people who
have waited in line.

“My faith reminds me often that we are to follow our laws,” Womack said.

“Scripture tells us things are to be done legally,” Boozman said. “They are supposed to be done in an orderly process.”

DeYmaz said the House’s decision to focus on border security first
and then take up smaller bills rather than attempt to pass a
comprehensive piece of legislation shouldn’t be taken as a “watering
down” of the issue. He said he was confident that House GOP leaders
would allow a thorough debate on each of the issues associated with
immigration in a succession of bills.

“It’s an informed and intentional approach,” he said.

Griffen said only a broad bill would fix the “broken” immigration system.

“By fixing the whole system, we empower that system to be a healing
and healthy force for our society,” he said. “We now have a hurtful
system.”

Griffen said evangelical leaders would encourage their congregations
to press lawmakers on immigration when Congress recesses on Aug. 2. He
emerged from his conversations on Capitol Hill hopeful that legislation
can be passed into law.

“I didn’t meet a single person who said this was a nonstarter,” Griffen said.

July 22, 2013

The day after a jury in Sanford, Fla., found George Zimmerman not guilty
in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin on February 12, 2012, USA Today’s front
page story headline asked “After verdict, can racial rift be healed?”

So, let’s ask the question again. After the verdict,
can America’s racial rift(s) be healed?

In a word: perhaps. But not unless local church pastors, planters and
denominational leaders throughout this country take seriously the need to
address systemic segregation within their own local congregations.

Stated another way, racism is ultimately a spiritual problem.
Consequently, systemic racial inequities in society cannot be righted until
they are first righted in the American Church.

That said, ask yourself: why were evangelical leaders so glaringly
absent from T.V. and cable news networks talking about the Zimmerman trial,
both prior to and after the verdict was delivered? Why were we not included as
part of panels and focus groups designed specifically to discuss the case,
issues of race, and lingering cultural divides in America? Where was our
collective voice; our faith-filled response; our invitation to become a bright
light in the public square pointing the way forward beyond tolerance to love,
beyond conversation to committed action and intentionality? Who among us was
called upon to share the stories of diverse men and women finding genuine
faith, hope, and love for one another in Christ; those now walking, working,
and worshipping God together as one in and through healthy multi-ethnic
churches?

The fact is, evangelical leaders were not sought out for such
interaction or even considered for a seat at the table. Let me explain why.

The credibility of the American Church is virtually non-existent in the
eyes of society when it comes to addressing racial rifts, systemic inequities,
or cultural divides deeply affecting this country. In this regard, our absence
from the discussion cannot be blamed on the Media. Rather, our lack of
credibility and collective irrelevance is the result of our own faults and
failures when it comes to building cross-cultural relationships, pursuing
cross-cultural competence, and promoting a spirit of inclusion within the local
church.

For far too long we have turned a blind eye to the
lack of diversity within our congregations; proudly championed homogeneity in
church planting; celebrated numeric growth and attendance more than community
revitalization and transformation; encouraged the purchase of land and built
new buildings instead of repurposing abandoned space in the community as a
physical manifestation of the power and message of redemption; refused to
empower minority leadership or to share authoritative responsibility in
otherwise all-White churches; and the list goes on.

More than this, while the American Church continues
to fawn over all things missional America remains polarized over all things
racial. And since nearly 90 percent of churches in the United States today fail
to have at least 20 percent diversity among their attending members, the
American Church not only lacks credibility when it comes to issues of race but
due to its own segregation unintentionally undermines the core of its message,
the very Gospel itself. Worse yet, this remains a fact too many among us seem
content to ignore.

Make no mistake: an increasingly diverse and
cynical society is no longer finding credible the message of God’s love for all
people as proclaimed from otherwise segregated pulpits and pews.

Legislation and education, together with the efforts of countless
individuals, groups, and agencies, have long sought to eliminate prejudice and
the disparaging consequences of institutional racism still deeply embedded
within society. Nevertheless, now is the moment to recognize that such a dream
cannot be realized apart from the establishment of healthy multi-ethnic
churches that intentionally and joyfully reflect the passion of Christ beyond
race and class distinctions. For it is not the institutions of government or of
education that have been ordained by God to this task. Rather it is the local
church, the bride of Christ—we His people.1

To this end, we must will and commit ourselves: not so much for the sake
of racial reconciliation, but more significantly for the sake of the Gospel; in
order to present a credible witness of God’s love for all people whereby
diverse men and women are reconciled to God (and consequently to one another)
through faith in Jesus Christ.

Concerning the movement of American Christianity
toward racial reconciliation in the 1990s, author Chris Rice wrote the
following profound words:

Yes, deep reconciliation will produce justice, and
new relationships between the races. Yes this will lead Christians to become a
bright light in the public square. But I have become convinced that God is not
very interested in the church healing the race problem. I believe it is more
true that God is using race to heal the church.2

For these and other reasons, the American Church
dare not overlook this moment in history; a time when racial divides are so
front and center, past and present pain so prevalent that even President Barack
Obama weighed in spontaneously this week, arguing “…that the larger discussion
of race belongs not with lawmakers in Washington but in living rooms, houses of
worship, and workplaces.”3 The time, then, is now to embrace the
biblical mandate of the multi-ethnic church and pursue it for the sake of the
Gospel.

Indeed it is Christ’s will that we become one with
believers different from ourselves in and through the local church, so that the
world would know God’s love and believe (John 17:20-23). As a by-product,
racial rifts can be healed; systemic inequities dismantled; and cultural
divides bridged. Only in so doing can Christ be lifted up in a demographically
polarized and changing society. Only in so doing can the American Church be
restored to a place of prominence in the minds and hearts of those outside its
walls.